Inconsiderate Non-Smokers

[blas87]

I don't think anyone really deserves a face full of smoke. I think it's proper enough to tell someone to get bent if they are insisting on being nearby you while you smoke and they don't like it.

[LewisLegion]

Absolutely. On that we are strongly agreed

[Lace Neil Singer]

I am an asthmatic, and my asthma attacks sound exactly like *pathetic cough*.

However, I address the problem by A) not sitting next to someone actively smoking and B) MOVING my ass and hitting my inhaler.

This is exactly my point. Yes, I concede the point that it is possible to have an asthma attack sounding like a fake cough, but a genuine asthmatic would not deliberately sit next to a smoker and refuse to move. Anyone who fakes asthma just to be an arsehole deserves a facefull of smoke.

[LewisLegion]

I am a considerate non-smoker. I never lecture anyone, and I avoid smokers actively smoking as much as possible. If it's not possible, however, I don't sit there and glare, cough, or wave my arms dramatically.

However:

I once had a woman claim that she was having an asthma attack due to my smoke. I promptly called bullshit on her claim, as one of my cousins is an asthmatic and I know full well what an asthma attack sounds like... and it's not *pathetic cough*.

I am an asthmatic, and my asthma attacks sound exactly like *pathetic cough*. I don't get the full on dramatic wheezing/gasping unless I have a laryngeal spasm. I am what my doctor calls a 'quiet asthmatic'. My attacks include simply breathing more rapidly and feeling like I'm not getting enough oxygen, an almost immediate wretching when confronted suddenly with cold/dry air (dry heaving), and that pathetic, almost fake sounding cough you mentioned. My absolute worst asthma attack, the one that almost got me hospitalized, I was accused of faking it by another patient because I had the faintest, most pathetic cough as my only symptom...and yet my O2 sats were in the sink. If I were sitting next to a smoker and it triggered an asthma attack, that's exactly how it would sound. However, I address the problem by A) not sitting next to someone actively smoking and B) MOVING my ass and hitting my inhaler.

does food actually cause your brain to produce chemicals that reduce pain, anxiety, and increase alertness, smoking does. so yes you become dependant and can't function on lower levels, you actually PHYSICALLY NEED the nicotine. I only eat one meal a day, jeez you taking time out of working for lunch, I just don't get it.(yeah in an 8+ hour shift I take 3-4 5 minute breaks, so 15-20 minutes, everyone else takes 30-60 minutes to eat, and then they're tired after eating)

Yes. Yes it does. There are many foods that do exactly this...ever hear of comfort foods? Food addiction? People eat all the time to relieve depression, low self-esteem and heartache because food causes a positive chemical reaction in our brains that helps relieve these feelings. Some people become dependant and cannot function on lower levels. Simply because you are able to eat one meal a day and get by just fine, does not mean food's chemical impact and food addiction does not exist...just like if one person can smoke once a day and control themselves does not mean another might have to smoke twenty times a day.

One person cannot picture going more than two or three hours without a smoke, another cannot picture going more than two or three hours without a snack. One is not more or less than the other.

[Skunkle]

From what I know from many smoker friends, BlaqueKatt is correct: Unless you are diabetic, in most cases not eating for many hours won't slam you. For heavy smokers, going more than an hour without a cigarette physically forces them to be irritable, easily distracted and feeling weak. Cigarettes are nasty that way.

Like I said, I don't blow smoke at non-smokers who invade my space and complain, but I DO get annoyed. If I'm in a smoking area and/or am sitting or standing somewhere where there's loads of other just-as-good spots to sit or stand, and someone enters my space and coughs or complains, I'll simply say "Excuse me" and I'll move to another spot a good 20 feet or so away, downwind if there's a breeze. I will move without further comment ONCE. If they move closer to me and keep complaining, I'll ask plainly why they feel the need to complain when I'm going out of my way to be considerate.

[Hyena Dandy]

I smoke... On very rare occasions. Cherry Cavendish pipe tobacco.

I don't smoke in public or around other people. But I'd never say you CAN'T do something.

Its your body. You fuck it up if you want to.

[Andara Bledin]

When I get busy at work and can't take my lunch on time, I get pretty hungry, and my body's craving for food sometimes makes me get a little irritable.

When you get to the point where your sugar levels are dipping and your hands shake and you are starting to have trouble thinking straight, then you can compare it to nicotine withdrawal.

^-.-^

[Ninja_Sushi]

Im never an inconsiderate smoker. I do my thing away from doors and windows. Never really had anyone fake cough or anything though. But yes, going a few hours without my smoke I will get irritated. Ive gone a day without food before. I can deal. Going a day without a smoke.....Bad day...For me and others. I hate life without a smoke every couple hours. By life I mean people speaking irritates me. Getting a phone call irritates me. Sun too bright? Irritated me. Hahaha

And oh man, if I get cut off while driving....Hahahaha......

But yeah, its a physical need. I cant help it. I cant just suck it up. Even when I was doing Army training I snuck off and smoked. Quit? NEVER!!! Slow down? NEVER!!

[BlaqueKatt]

I meant someone who has had to go a few hours without one. There is a big difference there. I just can't buy the notion that going two or three hours without a smoke is such a big chore.

does food actually cause your brain to produce chemicals that reduce pain, anxiety, and increase alertness, smoking does. so yes you become dependant and can't function on lower levels, you actually PHYSICALLY NEED the nicotine. I only eat one meal a day, jeez you taking time out of working for lunch, I just don't get it.(yeah in an 8+ hour shift I take 3-4 5 minute breaks, so 15-20 minutes, everyone else takes 30-60 minutes to eat, and then they're tired after eating)

smoking delivers a jolt of nicotine that reaches your brain within 7 seconds... faster than any other delivery method.

Now there's your brain, stimulated to produce powerful chemical messengers, chief amongst them norepinephrine, which regulates alertness and arousal.

Then there's dopamine, which is part of your brain's pleasure mechanism, also achieved by many other ways, including exercise.

And don't forget beta-endorphin, to lessen anxiety and pain.

All in all, you are in the addictive grip of a series of repeated pleasure "hits." Sort of mildly smiley, unworried, alert relaxation.

[Boozy]

I've gone several hours without food or drink, and that doesn't make me "tetchy."

Nicotine has a half-life in the body of about 30 minutes.

For light smokers, that's not a big deal. But heavy smokers can usually only go a few hours tops without getting twitchy.

That's absolutely not an excuse. I just don't think you can compare it to food or drink in the way that you have.

[guywithashovel]

But yes, to follow-up on another's statement, when smokers get "tetchy"... They have a craving, both physical and psychological, that can manifest in one or more ways including general twitchy nerves, allergies acting up, nervousness, irritability, etc. One of my friends, a smoker since childhood, had nasty allergies to a number of things commonly in the air, but no longer has them---except when he tries to quit smoking. After a few days of no cigarettes, they get so intense that he can't leave the house.

I get cravings for things my body needs, too. When I get busy at work and can't take my lunch on time, I get pretty hungry, and my body's craving for food sometimes makes me get a little irritable. However, I don't take it out on other people. I just suck it up. Now, I'm sure some critical thinking enthusiasts could draw some distinctions with that analogy, but I think the general principle applies.

Maybe I sound unsympathetic here, but most of the smokers I've seen who do this use their smoking habit as a means of making the world revolve around them. If a meeting is being planned, we can't have the meeting until they've had a chance to smoke because "we don't want to deal with them when they haven't had a cigarette."

Also, please note that in my initial post I didn't talk about someone who has had to go the entire day without a cigarette. I meant someone who has had to go a few hours without one. There is a big difference there. I just can't buy the notion that going two or three hours without a smoke is such a big chore. I've gone several hours without food or drink, and that doesn't make me "tetchy."

Which reminds me, why did you and Andara put the word "tetchy" in quotes? It is a real word. Let me show you.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tetchy

[blas87]

See, I don't blow smoke in people's faces, but I'm awfully tempted to when people start preaching at me.

Especially when this one woman in particular told me that I was going to become really ugly if I kept smoking. She was smoking, herself. I asked her why isn't she more worried about herself smoking, and she played it off "Well, I'm old and it's too late for me."

Come to think of it, I hate the guilt trips, or the backhanded compliments that I'm too pretty to smoke or too young to be doing something so gross, or when people say "Don't you want to live a long, healthy life?" and it's just to tempting to be like "Don't you want to mind your own fucking business?"

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm normally a considerate smoker, but there's just something about a fanatical non/ex smoker that just pushes my buttons and turns me into a bitch. I've puffed out smoke in people's faces when they just barged into my personal space (ie, sitting deliberately next to me on a bench in a park, when there were empty benches both sides of the one I was sitting on), just cuz their holier than thou attitude hacked me off.

I also once had a crazy old bag screech at me, "If you don't stop smoking, you'll never have babies!" once outside a hotel, where I was attending a party. I just blew smoke into her face and replied, "Good. I don't want them." For the record, I was nowhere near the door; I was sitting outside on a bench designated a smoking area. She had no reason to be bothered.

[Skunkle]

I'm so glad I'm not like this. I'm a considerate smoker, and I'm a social/non-addicted smoker. I smoke a pipe, but generally only outdoors and in the warm months; same for some cigars I like; I bring my hookah to parties. When I AM smoking a pipe or cigar, I am: Outside, away from doors, windows and air intakes, away from non-smokers and, in most cases, either standing and talking to other smokers, walking or hiking. I don't bother non-smokers, nor do I harp on addicted smokers.

On the rare occasion that a non-smoker comes near me and coughs to make their point, I take ten or so steps away and keep puffing. If they comment at me directly, I tell them I'm not forcing them to be near me and, again, I then move away from them. In both cases, this gives them fair opportunity to buzz off. If they approach again, I have a reasonable suspicion that they're the sort CS is full of: people who simply aren't satisfied unless they have something to complain about. If they approach again, I call them on it - I ask them point-blank why they feel the need to come close enough to sell the smoke, repeatedly, and complain about it.

Since I smoke for flavor and not effect, I also have a vaporizer AKA 'electronic cigarette'. It looks like a glossy black cig, has a blue LED on the end that glows when I puff, and the result is clouds of fog-machine vapor (prpylene glycol fog). I use this where smoking isn't allowed, but I ask an employee of a location before using it; some places don't allow them because they may send a "You can light up in here" message to smokers. Seattle, which has already banned smoking in all indoor locations, is currently moving to ban these as well, for the reason stated above: they may entice smokers to light real cigarettes. I don't agree with the ban but, at the same time, I can see their point too. I do notice that Disneyland (I was just there last year) officially allows their use anywhere in the park, and several CMs I smoke with have seen people using them.

But yes, to follow-up on another's statement, when smokers get "tetchy"... They have a craving, both physical and psychological, that can manifest in one or more ways including general twitchy nerves, allergies acting up, nervousness, irritability, etc. One of my friends, a smoker since childhood, had nasty allergies to a number of things commonly in the air, but no longer has them---except when he tries to quit smoking. After a few days of no cigarettes, they get so intense that he can't leave the house.

[Boozy]

This thread has veered off-course quite a bit.

Let's get it back on the topic of inconsiderate non-smokers, please. We can start another thread about cars and the environment.